The present invention relates to a motherboard and an expansion board for providing the motherboard with at least one slot and, more in particular, to a motherboard complying with a first industry standard specification and an expansion board detachably connected to an edge of the motherboard such that the motherboard and expansion board constitute a motherboard assembly complying with a second industry standard specification when the motherboard and expansion board connect together.
Related prior arts refer to as follows: the PCI-Riser standard specification of motherboard established by Sony Corp.; the NLX standard specification of motherboard established by Microsoft Corp.; and the ATX, MicroATX and FlexATX standard specifications of motherboard established by Intel Corp.
The current development for desktop computers gravitate towards the compact and light-weight in order to diminish manufacture cost and power consumption of the computers. Thereby, users can buy cheaper and more compact personal computers. Following the development trend of personal computers, the current development for specification of motherboard also gravitates towards the compact. For example, Intel Corp. early establishes the AXT standard specification, and later establishes the MicroATX and FlexATX standard specifications based on the consideration of position compatibility and dimension diminishing of motherboards of the AXT specification.
Referring to FIG. 1, the dimension difference between the motherboards respectively complying with the ATX, MicroATX and FlexATX specifications is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the dimension of the motherboard complying with the FlexATX specification is the smallest (as the area marked FlexATX shown in FIG. 1), the dimension of the motherboard complying with the MicroATX specification is the next largest (as the area including the area marked FlexATX and the area with oblique lines shown in FIG. 1), and the dimension of the motherboard complying with the ATX specification is the largest (as the area including the area marked FlexATX, the area with oblique lines and area with cross lines).
Also shown in FIG. 1, the length LATX and width WATX of the motherboard of the ATX specification are the longest and the widest, respectively. The length LMicro of the motherboard of the MicroATX specification is shorter than that of the motherboard of the ATX specification, and the width of the motherboard of the MicroATX specification is the same as that of the motherboard of the ATX specification. The length LFlex of the motherboard of the FlexATX specification is shorter than that of the motherboard of the MicroATX specification, and the width WFlex of the motherboard of the FlexATX specification is more narrow than those of the motherboards of the ATX and MicroATX specifications. In particular, the dimension of the motherboard complying with the FlexATX specification is variable. That is the length of the motherboard of the FlexATX specification can be reduced more as desired, and the width of the motherboard of the FlexATX specification can be extended to be the same as that of the motherboard of the ATX specification.
In addition, the aforesaid motherboards also require the position of mounting holes on the motherboard, where the mounting holes of the motherboard are provided for mounting the motherboard on the inner wall of a matched case. As shown in FIG. 1, white circles denote the position of mounting holes formed on the motherboard complying with the ATX or MicroATX specifications, and black circles denote the position of mounting holes formed on the motherboard complying with the FlexATX specification. Thereby, the motherboard of the FlexATX specification can be mounted within a case matching the motherboard of the MircoATX or ATX specifications, and the motherboard of the MicroATX specification can be arranged within a case matching the motherboard of the ATX specification.
However, the trend of desktop computers towards the compact also brings about a negative effect, i.e., useable I/O slots provided by the compact motherboard are decreased relatively. When a user needs more slots than those provided by the compact motherboard to install expansion devices such as interface cards, he inevitably requires the assistance of an expansion apparatus for increasing the I/O slots of the compact motherboard. Prior arts regarding type, connecting manner and connecting position of an expansion apparatus for providing a motherboard with slots will be described as follows.
Referring to FIG. 2, according to Sony""s PCI-Riser standard specification, a motherboard 21 and an expansion board 22 of a riser type is provided on the motherboard 21 to provide additional slots 222. The connection relationship between the motherboard 21 and the expansion board 22 is also shown in FIG. 2. The motherboard 21 of the PCI-Riser specification is a compact motherboard. Thus, only one slot 211 is provided on the motherboard 21. According to the PCI-Riser specification, when the motherboard 21 requires additional slots, the expansion board 22 is inserted into the slot 211 initially provided on the motherboard 21 via a bus 221 of a golden-finger type to provide the motherboard 21 with the additional slots 222. Obviously, when the motherboard 21 and the expansion board 22 are connected together, the slot 211 provided on the motherboard 21 is inevitably sacrificed so that the slot 211 cannot provide for the insertion of an interface card. Besides, note that the motherboard 21 and the expansion board 22 are disposed perpendicularly from each other when they connect together.
Similarly, according to Intel""s FlexATX specification, when the motherboard of the FlexATX specification requires additional slots, an expansion board of a riser type can be inserted into a slot initially provided on the motherboard to provide the motherboard with the additional slots.
Referring to FIG. 3, according to Microsoft""s NLX standard specification, an expansion board 32 is provided on the motherboard 31 to provide for additional slots 322. The connection relationship between the motherboard 31 and the expansion board 32 is also shown in FIG. 3. The motherboard 31 of the NLX specification is a compact motherboard. The motherboard 31 is provided with a bus 311 of a golden-finger type at an edge of itself. According to the NLX specification, when the motherboard 31 requires additional slots, the expansion board 32 is connected to the bus 311 via a connector 321 of itself. Note that the motherboard 31 and the expansion board 32 are disposed perpendicularly from each other when they connect together.
However, through the description of prior arts, it is obvious that, to date, no expansion board for providing a motherboard with slots is connected in parallel to an edge of the motherboard. That is, to date, no expansion board for providing a motherboard with slots is disposed in parallel with the motherboard when they connect together.
Accordingly, the invention is motivated towards providing an expansion board detachably connected in parallel to an edge of a motherboard. By the expansion board according to the invention, a motherboard with a little dimension can be extended to be a motherboard assembly with a large dimension such that the motherboard assembly can be arranged within a case matching a motherboard with a dimension the same as that of the motherboard assembly. This approach of the invention really manifests the advantage of compatibility between motherboards of various specifications. With the invention, if one user considers future expansibility of a computer at the time buying the computer, he can buy a case with a large dimension and a motherboard, according to the invention, with a little dimension to constitute the computer as desired. Further, the user can connect an expansion board according to the invention to an edge of such motherboard to make full use of the space of the case if needed. The user, who has bought a computer including a case and a motherboard with a large dimension, can update the computer, if needed, only by replace the motherboard with the large dimension by a motherboard, according to the invention, with a little dimension to reserve the future compatibility of the updated computer.
In addition, on aspects of designer and manufacturer, if designer and manufacturer develop a motherboard with a large dimension into a motherboard assembly, that is, including a motherboard with a little dimension and an expansion board according to the invention, they only modify the motherboard with the little dimension without the need to vary the configuration of the expansion board when a motherboard device on the motherboard, such as a CPU or a chipset, needs to be upgraded. Obviously, this approach can give the motherboard with convenience for design and manufacture, and conform to the requirement for reducing the cost of computer corresponding to the trend of low price computer.
Besides, most of present-day motherboards need to include the industry standard interface specifications that current expansion devices still follow, e.g., the ISA interface specification, the PCI interface specification, the AGP interface specification, the USB interface specification, the AMR interface specification, etc. However, as the development of desktop computers gravitate towards the compact, the expansibility of the computers is sacrificed. Accordingly, another objective of the invention is to provide a motherboard complying with a first specification and an expansion board for providing the motherboard with slots. In particular, an interface specifications, which one of the slots provided by the expansion board follows, is not followed by the motherboard. Obviously, this approach can increase the expansibility of the motherboard.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a motherboard complying with a first industry standard specification and an expansion board for providing the motherboard with at least one slot. In particular, the expansion board is detachably and connected in parallel with the motherboard. The expansion board and the motherboard constitute a motherboard assembly complying with a second industry standard specification when they connect together. Moreover, there is a position compatibility existing between the first specification and the second specification. Whether or not the motherboard connects with the expansion board, the motherboard (or the motherboard assembly) can be installed within a case matching a motherboard of the second specification and, thereby, the advantage of the compatibility between the motherboards of the first and second specifications can be manifested.
It is another objective of the invention is to provide a motherboard complying with a first industry standard specification and an expansion board for providing the motherboard with at least one slot. In particular, an interface specification, which one of the slots provided by the expansion board follows, is not followed by the motherboard and, thereby, the expansion board can increase the expansibility of the motherboard.
According to a first preferred embodiment of the invention, a motherboard assembly includes a motherboard complying with first industry standard specification and an expansion board for providing the motherboard with at least one slot. The expansion board is detachably connected to the motherboard. When the expansion board is connected to the motherboard, the motherboard assembly complies with a second industry standard specification. In an embodiment, the first industry standard specification is the FlexATX specification, and the second industry standard specification is the MicroATX specification. In another embodiment, the first industry standard specification is the MicroATX specification, and the second industry standard specification is the ATX specification.
According to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, a motherboard assembly selectively complies with a first industry standard specification, a second industry standard specification and a third industry standard specification. The motherboard assembly includes a motherboard complying with the first industry standard specification, a first expansion board, detachably connected to the motherboard, for providing at least one first slot, and a second expansion board, detachably connected to the first expansion board, for providing at least one second slot. When the first expansion board is connected to the motherboard, the motherboard assembly complies with the second industry standard specification. When the second expansion board is connected to the first expansion board and the first expansion board is connected to the motherboard at the same time, the motherboard assembly complies with the third industry standard specification. In an embodiment, the first industry standard specification is the FlexATX specification, the second industry standard specification is the MicroATX specification, and the third industry standard specification is the ATX specification.